London [UK], June 27 : Three-time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray has stated that he is still hopeful of playing at Wimbledon just days after undergoing spinal surgery but will make a last-minute choice.
As per Sky Sports, Murray underwent surgery on June 22 to treat a spinal cyst, which typically requires a six-week recuperation period. With Wimbledon beginning on July 1, Murray is hopeful of making a miraculous return to the championships. However, he stated that he is more likely to play in doubles with his brother, Jamie.
The three-time Grand Slam winner and two-time Olympic champion, who has won the grass-court major twice, quit from his second-round match at Queen's last week with a back ailment.
"Andy is recovering well from his surgery and has started training again. At this stage it is too soon to confirm for definite whether he will play Wimbledon, but he is working towards that and a final decision will be made as late as possible to give him the best chance of competing," a statement from Murray's team read.
"Maybe it's my ego getting in the way, but I feel that I deserve the opportunity to give it until the very last moment to make that decision. If I was to be playing on Monday, I may know on Sunday there's no chance that I can play. It's complicated and it's made more complicated because I want to play at Wimbledon one more time. I don't want the last time that I play on a tennis court to be what happened at Queen's. I know there's more important things in the world than how I finish playing my last tennis match," Murray said as quoted by Sky Sports.
Murray is eligible to compete in the Games with two spots in the singles competition at the Games set aside for athletes who have previously won an Olympic or Grand Slam competition. Murray lost to American Marcos Giron in the opening round of the Stuttgart Open earlier in the month, making his preparations for what is anticipated to be his final summer in the sport less fortunate.
"But because of what I put into the sport over the last however many years, I would at least like to go out playing a proper match where I'm at least competitive.I was made aware that if I decided to try to play Wimbledon that there's some risk associated with that and it's whether or not I'm willing to take on that risk. The operation has gone really, really well and I'm recovering really well," he added.
"I'm not in much pain at all, but the nature of nerve injuries is that they're quite slow to recover. I don't know exactly how long it's gonna take for the nerve to get to a stage where I'm able to compete or play, whether that's three days or whether it's three weeks or five weeks. It's impossible to say," he said.
Murray has been named in the Great Britain's squad for the upcoming Olympics games and the 37-year-old is set to make his fifth appearance.
The tennis tournament in the 2024 Olympics will take place at the Roland Garros from July 27 to August 4.
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